As we prepare to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, I am reflecting on so many factors that led to where I am today. My mother grew up in India when the path for most women was not one of higher education and a professional life. Yet, with the support of her family, she pursued an advanced degree and became an internationally acclaimed scientist. At a time when arranged marriages were the standard, she met my father and they wed in a non-traditional “love marriage.” With her quiet strength, she was a pioneer, and her experience and outlook helped shape who I am and the path I have taken.

I, too, had the support of my family to pursue dreams of a college degree and professional career, and to be a wife and mother. But many girls and women are not afforded these opportunities, a lack of access which leads to millions trapped in a cycle of poverty, abuse, and poor health—an inherent inequality—where 66 million girls around the world are not in school, 150 million girls are victims of sexual violence each year, and the number 1 cause of death for girls ages 15 to19 is childbirth.

When people ask why we should encourage women and girls to pursue technology education, I tell them about Soso Luningo.

Soso grew up in one of South Africa’s poorest provinces, a rural village where lack of economic opportunity is the norm. A fraction of the country’s 9000 high schools offer information and communications technology (ICT) as a subject, even though it provides strong career prospects. Unemployment in South Africa is 25 percent, and without the financial resources to attend college, young people like Soso end up trapped in poverty.

But when I met Soso in 2012, she was anything but a statistic. She had a thriving career, had built her parents their dream home, and was a role model to other young women with similar backgrounds. And it was all because she was educated in ICT.

Cisco is proud to sponsor the DoGooder Video Awards for the third year in a row. These awards recognize the creative and effective use of video in promoting social good.

The submissions included a wide array of funny, moving, and informative videos that embraced strong storytelling to communicate important messages. It was a difficult task, but the DoGooder Team has chosen the finalists – and now it’s up to the public to choose the winners.

Visit the contest site today and cast your vote. Public voting is open through March 10, 2014.

This is the second year in a row Cisco has been recognized by the EPA. Last year we won the Supply Chain Leadership Award for managing and reducing GHG emissions throughout our supply chain.

Cisco was one of 15 organizations and two individuals recognized at the Climate Leadership Conference in San Diego, California yesterday. Cisco received the award because we met our first 5-year goal, announced in June 2007 to reduce all scope 1, 2 and business air-travel Scope 3 GHG emissions* worldwide by 25% on an absolute basis from 2007 to 2012.

This post was written by guest blogger Patrice D’Eramo, who, as Vice President of the Americas Field Marketing Organization, leads field marketing for Cisco’s largest geographic region with $25 billion in annual sales.

As I reflect back on my career journey, I realize most of the positions I wanted, I wasn’t supposed to get, at least not yet. I was either too young, didn’t have “enough” experience or didn’t have tenure at the company. Others were better positioned in the network, had more experience and were already a part of the company’s succession planning.

But I never let anything stop me from applying; I submitted my resume anyway. I surprised myself each time by being awarded every job I pursued. As a result of my “do it anyway” attitude, more opportunities presented themselves to me as time went on. In thinking back on how I have been successful, I attribute it to a few things:

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